Former Bethel teacher arrested on charges of inappropriate touching

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BETHEL - A first-grade teacher who resigned last month turned himself in to State Police on Monday after an investigation into incidents of inappropriate touching of young children.

State Police said Brian Stroh, 30, of New Fairfield, turned himself in to Troop A in Southbury. He was charged with three counts of fourth-degree sexual assault and six counts of risk of injury. There were three different victims, ages 6, 9 and 11.

Because this case involves an alleged sexual assault of minors, court documents were ordered sealed.

Stroh appeared in court Tuesday. He has to post $250,000 bond and will be under 24 hour house arrest and must wear an electronic monitoring device. He also can't have unsupervised contact with minors. He is due back in court on March 31.

Fox CT caught up with Superintendent Christine Carver outside of court. She says Stroh was named rookie teacher of the year several years ago.

No school staff reported any suspicious behavior displayed by Stroh toward students. The allegations came to the school system's attention after a call from the Department of Children and Families on February 19, according to Carver. She said she immediately met with Stroh and placed him on paid administrative leave, but he resigned that evening.

Carver says there's no indication that the alleged offenses were committed on any of the school system's properties.

The state said Stroh has had involvement with camps in Ridgefield, New Fairfield and Redding. They also say he has attempted suicide twice. In fact, Stroh recently spent 11 days at a New York treatment facility. His attorney, Kevin Chamberlain, has recommended he seek psych treatment.

Fox CT caught up with Superintendent Christine Carver outside of court. She says Stroah was named rookie teacher of the year several years ago. He was a first grade teacher at the Frank A. Berry School. The allegations came to the school systems attention from a call from the Department of Children and Families. No school staff reported any suspicious behavior displayed by Stroh toward students.

Back in February, Superintendent Carver wrote a letter to the community about the “inappropriate activities” he was charged with. At the time, she said the employee involved was barred from school property or from having contact with the district’s computer system and that he has resigned resigned.

According to the letter, teacher applicants are not only put through a full background and criminal records check, but are also checked against the DCF registry.